THE RIGHTS AND DUTIES OF LABOUR. LECTURE BY CARDINAL MORAN.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XIX, Issue 49, 11 September 1891, Page 23

THE RIGHTS AND DUTIES OF LABOUR. LECTURE BY CARDINAL MORAN.

(Sydney Freeman's Journal, August 22.) ( Concluded.) Thertc are sixteen such joint stock co-operative companies in France. One of them in particular carries out the principle in a most systematic way. The annual profits are divided in the proportion of 85 per cent to the shareholders and fifteen per cent to the employees. I trust that I have made it sufficiently clear that, claiming some share in tbe increase of the profits, the workers would not seek to rob the capitalist in any way ; they would only claim aa their share that which of right should belong to them. No one in Australia will question the labourer's rights to associate with his fellow-men ia every lawful society, and to enjoy all the benefits which such association or organisation may afford. In many countries, however, this right of association is still denied to the working man, and it was only after a painful and weary struggle that it was granted in England. It may be well to review the vicissitudes of the labourer in the past, thus to better understand the advantages which he enjoys in his prespnt condition. In the mediaeval times there wore the various guilds, which corresponded in a certain measure to tbe trades unions of 'the present day. The economic principles which control tho commercial world have undergone many changes Bince those uaya, t>nd we may be disposed to find fault with many of the regulations which then were highly prized. At all events there was no need for poor-houses under the ancient guilds, and in the field ot labour there was an equilibrium between the demand and supply, whilst in the workman's homestead there was comfort, abundance, and contentment. Under Henry VIII. and his son Edward VI. a terrible blow was struck at the prosperity and independence of tho Englisn labourer, when the guilds were suppressed, and the guild lands confiscated and appropriated by the Crown. Base money being issued to meet the requirements of the State, the prices of all articles were trebled, whilst the wages of labour remainei unchanged. Tne Blesaei More, towards the closr> of his Utopia, thus eketches the injustice prevalent in bis day : "The richer sort are often endeavouring to bnug the hire of the labourers lower, not only by fraudulent praclicts, but by tbe laws whicn they procure to be made to that effect ; so that though it is a thing niosr unjust ia itself to giv • such small rewards to those who deserve po we 1 of the public, jet they have given these hardships the name an 1 colour of jastio , by procuring laws to be made lor regulating them." In Queen Klizibeth's reign, the Justices of the Peace were empowerei at Quartr S^s^ions t) fix the piice of labour, and to inflict s 'vere pen lit. c* uu those who and thosa who received more thin tha fixed Biandaid. The Justices themselves belonged to the cUhs of employers, and as a result the wa:fs of labour were set at ptaivaiion iioint. By a subsequent law, any combinati' n amoni* workmen with the objret of imp'oving wages was to be prorup.ly chicked and sternly j unished. At the same time severe laws were enacted against vagrancy. S'.urdy beggars caught begging for the first time were to be whipped at the c irt's tail ; fur the second time, were to hav3 tTeir ears slit, or bored through with hot irons ; for the third time, were to suff i death as felons. Hard times these for the unemplo>td. Under X Iward VI., in 1547, it w<is enacted that whoever lived idly and loiterin^ly for the bpace of three days, came under the dtsciiption of a vagabon 4 , and was liable to the following punishment :— Two Jus'ices of the Peace might order the letter V to be burned on his breast, and adjudge him to serve the person who informed (.gams': him fur two years as his slave. His master was bmmi to provide Li n with bread an 1 witer and refuse meat ; might fix an iron ring round his n^ck, arm, or leg, rmd was authons d to compel him to labour at any work, however vile it might be, by beating, chiming, or otherwise. If the slave absented himself for a fortnight, tbe letter S was burned on his c.ieek or foreheal, and he Decame a slave for life; and if he offended a second time, his flight subjected him to the penalty of ueath. Nor were these mere icjle t'neuts. In cne single year, during Elizabeth 'a reign, in Sameisetshne alone, 40 prisons were txeeuied under these statutes, 35 were branded, aud 37 whipped, ami the contemporary wiiters tell us that SomerseUhiti' was not singular in such severity. In the first quarter of tbe 18th cjntury began the so-called workhouses — those centres anil setdplots of vice and misery — hideous caricituies of charitable insti'utions fi>r the poor, which, much improved in modern tim<B, continue still to cast their shadow over the lan I. During the past two ceituii'S all associations of workmen were ucd^r tho b.m ot the law in England. A-i late as the 40th year of (Jeorge tl c Third, all agreements between workmen for obtaining a rise of wages, etc, were ueclartd illegal, aud subjected tLe members of such combinations to a penalty of two months' imprisonment. The evil genius of oppression went even fuither and devised the doctrine of constiuclive conspiracy, so that the mere fact of entering into a labour partnership became a sufficient ground for transpor-

tation. In ttie meantime the price of provisions increased so much that the fixed wages did not suffice to ward off starvation. Nevertheless, the Justices of the Peace would not increase the wages of labour. They devised, instead, another Bcheme by which tht labourer was merged in the pauper class, and an allowance from the poor rates was granted to the labourer in proportion to the number of children in bis family. The result of all this was an ever-increasing misery, with secret and criminal organisations, " Sullen, silent work, alternated with misery and drunken riot." The breaking of machinery, or bnrning of factories, became an every day occurrence. An eye- witness thus describes one of those scenes in Manchester :— " The burning building was surrounded by thousands of excited people, whose faces, reddened by the ascending flames, expressed a fierce and savage joy As the fire forced its way from floor to floor, darting through the long rows of windows, cries of exultation were shouted by the crowd ; and when finally bursting through the roof, it went roaring into the heavens, the maddened multitude danced with delight, shouting and clapping their hands, as in uncontrolable thankfulness for a great triumph." At length, however, enlightened statesmanship put an end to this most disastrous state of things. I need not enter into the history of the Factory Laws and other beneficent Acts passed from time to time in the past half-century to , protect the weak against the strong. The right of workmen to associate for the sake of bettering their condition was deckred no longer illegal. The workman may now act in concert with bis fellow- workmen, and enter into partnership with them with the object of enhancing the price of their labour. They are only doing what the shareholders in a bank, a railway, or any other joint stock company do with their capital, and the workman's strength and skill are quite as much capital as any other investment is. It is unnecessary for me to dwell on the success which has hitherto attended the efforts of the men, thus associated, to better their material condition. I will only mention one of the moral advantages which may happily result from the trades union, but one which I regret to say is not always attended to. I mean the influence by which a trades union may react on the individuals associated in it. There will be men below the average, in energy, honesty, or Bobriety. They may not be vicious, but may, nevertheless, be shiftless, irresolute, without thriit. Now, anyone who has to deal at times with the reforming of hia fellow men well knows how difficult it is to make the drunkard sober, the idle man industrious, the irresolute man earnest umi devoted to his trade. There can be no more efficacious means to attain such desirable results than to combine the benign influence of religion with the action and impulse of the men with whom he is associated, and if the trades unions would propose to themselves to attain this most desirable end, they would confer a lasting blessing on countless families, and on society in general. One feature of some of those trades unions merits special mention. In Germany a Bpecial law guarantees tbe Labour Insurance Union, to provide a competence for the workman or his family in case of sickness, accident, or death. One-tbird of the annual premium for the insurance ia paid by the State, one-third by the employers, whilst the workman himself provides for the remaining third. Before I quit this matter of tho rights of labour, you will permit me to refer to the manifold advmtages that accrue to the working man from the comfortable homestead. The home must have its due attractions, find for this purpose it should have all those appliances and associations that tend to promote and conciliate domestic happiness and domestic industry. The housing of the labouring class in many countries is little less than an outrage on our common humanity. I will not refer to the tenible disclosures which were made a few months ago in D irkest England. Suffice it to say that the Royal Commission on the housing of the London poor witnesses to the fact that a great portion of the labouring class in that great commercUl capital of the world are forced to dwell in tenements quite unfit for human habitation, whole families huddled together in dark and dismal apartments, iv rickety houses or in filthy rooms, the lodging of a family being too often not one room, but only one corner of a commou com, with the result to brutalize thousands of human beings an lo degrade them almost balow the level of the brute, L"t no one imagine that lehgion and morality have nothing to Bay to this condition or things. In such squalid homes, with their unhealthy and immoral surrounding", almost of necessity the unhappy inmates are led captive to crime and to criminal pursuits. A popular writer of our day has put the mat:er in a clear light in a few words as follows :: — li So long as their bodies are treated as they at present are, to work for their souls is a hopeless, is even a ridiculous task. Huw shall they be pure and temperate, how shall they have any of ihe virtues which good Christians prize, so long as they are housed like piga, and fed worsi thau swine, — so long as they have no knowledge and no leisure, and nothing from their childhood that so much as buggests happiness, except drink and things worse than drink? How shall you tell them to be clean, when they have only sewage to wash in ? " I will not venture to define what means would be most efflca- ' cious to attain the most desirable result of supplying comfortable

homesteads to the working class. la mediaaval times each coitage had four acres of land attached to it, besides the commonage rights which it eDJoyed. Now-a-daye, these details must vary with the circumstances of country and climate and people, but it would be in the interest of the whole community that the working man's home lin all us circumstances and surroundings would partake of comfort, security and industry. The excellent building societies' of thie country would afford special oppoitunities for realising such a project, and in payment of the annual premium by which the loan and its accruing interest would be repaid in 20 years, the same course might be pursued which we have seen is adopted in Germany in the working man's Insurance Union ; one-third of the premium would ba paid by the State, one-third by the employer, and one-third by the working-man, who thus after 20 years would himself be a small capitalist and the owner in fee-simple of his comfortable home. Id this way the number of small proprietors wonld soon be- multiplied throughout the whole country, and those advantages would be realised which are so ably set forth in the Encyclical : "If working people can be encouraged to look forward to obtaining a share in the land, the result will be that the gulf between vast wealth and deep poverty will be bridged over, and the two orders will bo brought nearer together. Another consequence will be the greater abundance of the fruits of the earth. Men always work harder and more readily when they work on that which is their own ; nay, they learn to love the very soil which yields in response to the labour of their bands, not only food to eat, but an abundance of good things for themselves and those that are dear to them. It is evident how much a spirit of willing labour would add to the produce of the earth and to the wealth of the community. And a third advantage would arise from this ; men would cling to the country in which they were bom ; for no one would exchange his country for a foreign land if his own afforded him the means of living a tolerable and happy life." One other right of the working man must not be omitted. The cause of labour should have its representatives in Parliament. An able German writer sets forth in a few words the grounds on which this claim rests :—": — " The demand of labourers to be properly represented in Parliament is just. They bear the burdens of the State by way of indirect taxation on articles of consumption, often to a disproportionately large extent as compared with their small incomes They perform the labour requisite for the production of the wealth of the country. They are in the eyes of the law ethical responsible members of society. And, finally, they have clas9 interests to represent." I will add as another reason which, for Australia at L j ast, will hold good, that our labour representatives by their energy and ability, their practical knowledge and patriotism will pro re themselves such as they ought to bo : "Men who their duties know, But know their rights, and knowing dare maintain." Thus they will ba an important factor in the development of the rasources, and will give a new impulse to the national aspirations of this country. May I not congratulate Australia in that, though tha youngest on the roll of nations, she has been the first to add the strength and vigour of a labour party to her Parliamentary representation ? Having dwelt at such length on the rights of the working man, it now remains that I briefly sketch some, at least, of the many duties which are involved in those rights. 1. The labourers are the working bees in the hive of social indußtry. If there be men of idolent or idle habits among them, and much more so if they be vicious, drunkards and criminals, such individuals, till they are reformed, should not be allowed the rights and privileges of labour. The workman, above all others, should cultivate temperance, because, more than any others, he is exposed to the risks and temptations of drink, whilst in his caee most disastrous is the ruin that follows upon intemperate habits. Soma people imagine that it is the aim of labourers' associations to enable tha men to live in idleness, to lead a pleasant Izisser faire national existence, without trouble or fatigue, but with success, and wealth, and the comforts of life smiling upon them. There cannot be a greater error than this. It is a delusion which does incalculable injury to the labour cause, and of which it should ba th« interests of the trades unions by word and by deed to disabuse thoir opponents and false friends. There can be no doubt that more ruin, temporal and spiritual, is brought upon the working class by intemperance than by all its other enemies combined. 2. They shoud be careful to select, as their leaders mo.-i of honour intelligence, and integrity. An eminent friend of the labour cause in the United States has written that, " as these societies are composed of members very formidable in numbers, varied in character, temperament and nationality, they are in the nature of things more unweildly, more difficult to manage, more liable to disintegration than corporations of capitalists, and they have need of leaders possessed of great firmness, tact, and superior executive ability, who will honestly aim at consulting the welfare of the society they represent, without infringing on the rights of their employers. They should exercieu unceasing vigilance in seeming their body from

the control of the designing demagogues who would make it subservient to their own selfish ends, or convert it into a political engine." 3. The labourer shonld uphold the legitimate interests of capital. Legitimately acquired capital is the product of labour. It bears the same relation to labour aa the blossom or the fruit to tbe tree which produces it. It is also in a measure the means and instrument of labour, for m the bands of its possessor it may bo used a<» the chisel in the hands of the artizan. It must be borne in mind that the labourer cannot stand a'one, anil for a great deal of his succesß in life he must depend upon the co-operation of capital. It is the capitalist that seta production going and provides for its increasa and development. He sustains the thrift, energy, and industry of the working man. Without oapital, the material prosperity of the country becomes a mere empty name. Capital takes the mines in its embrace, and scatters their treasures all around ; in building giant Bteamers tbat make distant continents one people. By its railroads it beats down the barriers that separate Dation from nation and colony from colony. It encourages the fine arts, gives wings to genius, and promotes every useful research in the varied fields of industry. With the improved machinery of the present day one trained female labourer can turn out 600,000 needles per day. It is capital, however, that prepared the steel, bought tke machinery, and built and equipped the factory. It is startling to reflect that the machinery of England at the present time does the work of 200 millions of men, and if we suppose that it were worked for only four houra per day would, nevertheless, suffice to support in frugal comfort the whole population of the United Kingdom. On the other hand, capital without labour can achieve no triumphs. It has been compared to a Btream which has labour for its sources, and labour for its tributaries. The very machinery which is used, the implements, chemical apparatus, buildings, railroads, canals, and ships are the result of labour. Thus capinal and labour need each other ; why, then, Bhould there be antagonism between them ? It is well, however, to bear in mind that the bitter antagonism that produced such sad results in England in the first half of the present century commenced with the capitalists and not with the labourers. Towards the close of the last century there was a marvellous influx of capital into England, a great part of it fraudulently acquired. From a Parliamentary inquiry it resulted that in nine years a sum of six millions sterling had been acquired by the East India Company as presents from the Hindoos. Equal fortunes had been built up with no lesß rapidity in Jamaica and the West Indies, and, like pyramids of gold were cemented with the blood of slaves. When Bristol was being enriched by the toil of West India slavery, a distinguished philanthropist addressing the citizens told them that " every brick in their city was cemented with the blood of a negro." These were the unscrupulous capitalists who, controlling the reins of Government, framed the laws which ground down to the dust the English, labour, The old employers had no part in such legislation, but sided with the workmen, and very soon shared their fate. The antagonism of labour against capital ia later times is a reaction against the intolerable state of things produced oy those unjust laws. But the labourer should bear in mind that when he has redressed those laws and secured his rights, all antagonism should cease It is his own nterest that it should be so, lest pursuing capital with enmity, in the proverbial phrase, he kill the hen that lays the golden eggs. I have said that capital may be considered as the flower and fruit of labour. This, of course, holds only for capital honestly acquired. It belongs to the state to deal with capital that is fraudulently acquirad, or inordinately congealed, or unjustly applied, or wastefully misspent. I will add but one other remark oa this head, and it is that the labourer, when he will have secured rights and acquired his own comfortable homestead, will himself have become a capitalist. We have read that in olden times the yeoman with his family did all the homestead work. He killed his meat and ground his corn and the good housewife made the bread. Eggs and chickens came from the poultry yard, butter and milk from the dairy, npplea and gooseberries from the orchard, honey from the hives. 1 a many ways the old order of things cannot be renewed. The mos. industrious man will no longer grind his own corn or weave his own cloth. But in so far as it tells of comfortable homes, with industry and contentment smiling around, why should it not be restored amongst us ? Then in a great measure all strife between capitalists and labourers would cease. 4. The labourer should faithfuly keep the law and be strict in its observance. True liberty can only bo maintained by upholding the majesty of the law, and the labourer more than any others needs its protecting Gegis to safeguard his freedom. He should cherish patriotism. Not only on goneral principles, but as a special duty he should love the country, in building up whose prosperity he spends his strength and energies, and in whose welfare he shonld above others rej nee. He should respect iaviokbly tie rights of hia fellow-citizens and endeavour to promote their interests. Thus he justly claims that his own rights miy be respected and defended by oLhtrj. Society is a mo*.*ic. If the ba-iuty an i perfection of a single part be destroyed, you loae the beauty and perfection ol the

whole work. Hence the labouier should avoid anarchists, those disturber of society whose conduct brings reproach ou the whole body and excites the distrust of all that is b st and moat honourable in the community. I may here cite the weighty words of the same American champion of the labour cause to whom I have already referred : " They should be careful to exclude from their ranks that ' turbulent element composed of m^n who boldly preach the gospel of anarchy, socialism and nihilism ; those lanclpirates who are preying on the indus'ry, commerc! and trada of the country ; whose mission is to pull down and not to build up ; who instead of upholding the h^ndsof the Government tnat protects them are bent on its destruction, and instead of blessing the mother that opens her arms to welcome them, insult and defy her. If such revolutionists had their way, despotism would supplant legitimate authority, license woulJ reign without liberty, and gaunt poverty would stalk throughout tin Und." Toe Presileit of the International Miners' Congress giv^s ths sama a 1 vice : " Let the workman everywhere demand and insist up >n free speech and the right of combination, Let them trust in the reasonableness of their cause ; let them regard as their greatest enemies, in whatever guise of friendship they come, those who counselled intimidation, violence and outrage. Such advice was not only inaprudent and suicidal, but in a free country it waß wicked and criminal in the extreme." 5. It is the labourer's duty to shun s'rikes. The strike is a drastic remedy which only in extreme cases can be at all reconciled with the dictates of justice or common sense. Even Mr. Bradlaugh declares that " the menaces of strike and of lockout are war notes, and the consequences which accompany and follow the putting the threat in actiou are war consequences, alike des'ructive and demoralising in effect, reaching far bay 'U i the ranks of th )se immedi ately engaged in the struggle, and enduring for mischief long after the particular strike or lock-out has terminated." From America we learn that during the eight years ending on the 31st December, 1888, there were in the United Stateß almost 5500 strikes, with the result that 77 millions of dollars were lost m wages to the working men, whilst above half that amount was lost to the employers. " Experience has shown that strikes are a very questionable remedy for the redress of the labourer's grievances. They paralyze industry, they often ferment fierce passions, and lead to the destruction of property ; and, above all, they result in inflicting grievouj injury on the labourer himself by keeping him in enfoice i idleness, during which his miud is clouded by discontent while broodiog over bis situation, and his family not unfrequently suffers from the want of even the necessaries of life." . . . 6. The friends of labour should promo c boards of conciliation and arbitration. Such boards, composed of representative' of capital and of labour, can contribute a great deal to maintain hir no iy aid peace, and to rep ur the injuryj ury rttid inj ust ca that miy peroha-.ee have teen inflicted. Int'ic North of Ei-Und, in France »al el-<e.vhere they have been found practicil'y useful m the matter of conciliation and promoting friendly feeling. Need 1 say that a somewhat similar board htkS during the past weeks achieved a great deal amoug ouiBelves 1 It is consonant with common Hense that such happy results should follow. Representatives chosen from the employers and the employed could on an equal footing discuss the interests of both. They would be thus ecabled to realise the condition of tb.3 workman and his claims, and, at the same time, tha requirements of tra.de, the state of the markets, the cost of manufacture, the profits that accrue. Conversant with all this, they could decide on the principles of equity and justice what the capitalist cm afford to give, aud what the workman should receive. In souj department of labour the &\mi physical toil will not always b entitled t> tbe same remuneration. Coal-miners, for instance, aro paii by weigh', and where the cjal is easy to get, if the worker is particularly bkiiful he will secure in a few hours higher remuneration than another less adroit workman wil 1 receive for a long day's toil. So again in piecework; increased diligence aad skill will multiply the wages. Disputes on these varying points can easily be settled by a board camposed of those wbo aie well acquainted with tbe conditions of labour, and who discuss the matter in conciliatory fashion. Such a board would a.so serve to enlighten public opinion as to the merits of the controversies that may arise between the employers and the employed, aad thus secure the sympathy of the geueral public for ;he cause of justice. That the State has a right to appoint such boards no one will question, but many, as well of the employers of the employe!, wou'd bo in favour of voluntary as against legal arbitration, and would prefer to S3.tle amicably their misunderstandings and differences without invoking the aid of the law. A great friend of labour (Br.ies j y in " Work and Wages') writes that " elucitna will piojably d> muh t) develop the usefulness of courts of conciliation. It may be that a courr of conciliation can never adjust a real quarrel ; but it is certiin that it may do much to prevent a quarrel from arising. If the workmen were satisfied that au employer ould not make a conc*ssioa with mt suffering serious loss, they would not be so unreasonable as to ask for it. The constant meeting of the employers and representatives of the operators at the s tme table must naturally facilitata peaceful negotiatio n where a desire for peace exists on both sides. With con-

Bia;it discuasiou, coming events will cast their shadows before, and lispules are not likely suddenly to arise." In Germany, the new Industrial code which came into operation last year recognises local arbitration courts, composed equally of employers and employed, which are empowered to decide all trade disputes between masters and workmen, and their decision has legal free.f >rce. In Norway the boards of conciliation have been for some years established. Toe Commissioners of the Board are elected by popular vote, and 88 per cent, uf the many cases that have come before them have been amicably settled. Ie is only a few weeks sinca some similar voluntary board was inaugurated in Belgium. It is composed of workmen and emp'oyers, and has for its object " mutual ail among the members, the improvement and prosperity of the trade, and the peaceful solution of all disputes between masters and mnn, on the broad basis of brotherly Christian charity." 7. I would wish to end this discourse with the concluding sentence of the Encyclical :— " The happy results we all long for must be chiefly brought about by the plenteous outpouring of charity ; of that true Christian charity which is tbe fulfilling of the whole Gospel law, which is always ready to sacrifice itself for others' s-.ke, and which is man's Burest antidote against worldly pride and immoderate love of self ; that charity, whose office is describtd and whose Godlike features are drawn by the Apostle 8t Paul in these words : ' Charity is patient, is kind. . . . seeketh not her own . . . suffereth all things . . . endureth all things'." Mend matters as we may, we will not attain the desired purpose unless religion inspired by charity pervade the Christian state and tn« Christian home. Without this quickening element of religious life tbe efforts of the most powerful statesmen will be vain to ssve the woild from the tide of anarchy and to avert the gathering storms which threaten ruin to the ins itutions of civilisation in an unChristianised world. It is religion enlightened by truth and quickened by chaiity that alone can heal the many festering wounds of society and iemedy the antagonisms which we see around us. Religion first of all embraces the working man. To him it preaches the Gospel to cheer and comfort him in his toil, to alleviate his burden, to teach him the true dignity of labour. Many material comforts may be wanting to his lot of life, but these privations are the seed of spiritual blessings. Our existence in this world has a higher aim than to eat and drmk. We are but pilgrims here ; Heaven is our home. These th« Church has never ceased to teach by example no less than by precept, and out of the ranks of labour many a great saint and prelate has come, and many a great religious order has arisen to be a shining light and a model to the whole world. Ii like manner religion takes bold of the capitalist. It tells him not to pi ic*3 his trust in the riches an 1 power which he poesesses. His w \ilth is given him in deposit that as a faithful steward he may employ it iv the services of the Divine Master. On the roll of sainta no one will be lound who by grinding the labourer and oppressing the poor attained the aureola of sanctity. On tbe contrary, those arc banc'ifml wno were just and generous, merciful and charitable ( a.»d who beicg endowed with wealth made use of it as benefactors of their fellow-men. VVhea ttie first Emperor Napoleon, in toe height of his glory, was discussing with his Ministers the best means for restoring order and promotiuj contentment among his people, after listening to their various schemes and projects, be said : Messieurs, all that you have sta'cl is very wise and just, but there is one other means more effectual than any which you have proposed. They eagerly asked, what that means was. He replied : " The Sister of Charity." So it is. The spirit of charity never fails to exercise a benign and salutary influence on the hardships and sorrows incidental to every condition of life, and under its guidance and enlightened by its genial rays the weary pilgiim will pursue his heavenward course, sanctified in his daily toil by the hopes and aspirations of the Christian heart, and c<mf jited by the assurance conveyed in the trite maxim of mediaeval life, " labour is prayer."